Time Marches On
by sdakerrigan
Summary: Part of the Freezerburn: The One Shots series. Much older now, Yang and Weiss have been married many years. The night of Weiss' promotion celebration to CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, she and Yang relax after the party.


**A/N: Short and sweet fluff. 1.9k words. Any longer and bad stuff might happen so it's only a little one!**

 **Time Marches On**

Yang and Weiss were relieved to shut their front door on the brisk evening air blowing indoors, and drop their public personas. Safe, in the privacy of their own home, they stopping sucking in their stomachs and let it all hang out. Weiss let her hair down. Yang sighed as she threw her thick coat over the back of the sofa.

"I had a lot of fun tonight but I'm so glad that's over with."

Weiss fished out a well-wisher's card from her coat pocket and smiled pleasantly as she read the words of congratulations. She displayed the card on the mantelpiece and lay her coat over the top of Yang's. Exhaustion prevented her from putting it away in the closet, even though her neat freak tendencies were yelling at her to tidy up. She shut her mind to those howls, and plonked herself down next to Yang.

"Me too. I am pooped."

"Such a big night for you. I thought you'd still be buzzing."

"I'm already tired thinking about all the work I have to do in the future."

"Surely they don't expect you to start immediately."

"There will be a handover period, where technically my father is still in charge of the company, but after that, I'll be on my own."

"I still can't believe he stepped down."

"I can't believe he made me CEO."

"Who else could do it? You've been preparing for this moment for eighteen years, babe."

"I know, but it was still so unexpected. I thought he would work until he got too old. He could've retired years ago, but he loved working. I think his health is failing him, he had another attack of angina last month."

"Oh god, is he ok?"

"Yeah, he is now. We were in the office, then all of a sudden he told me to call an ambulance. Luckily, he got medical attention fast. Doctors told him to take it easy and avoid stress, but you know him, he'll never do that unless he's literally on death's door. That's why when he gave me the news, it came as such a surprise. I love my promotion, but at the same time, at the cost of my father's well-being. He's on multiple meds, prescribed bed rest, and a special diet low in cholesterol. All this is just reparatory for the damage he's already done. We just have to wait and see whether he gets better."

"How old is he?"

"Seventy-five."

Yang whistled. "Getting on a bit, isn't he? He should focus on looking after himself."

"Mother's been cracking the whip, keeping him from over-exerting himself. The way he talks, you'd think he was confined somewhere under lock and key. Prognosis looks good, he's active and fit, just chronically overstressed due to his job."

"Which you just inherited. I'll have to keep my eye on you," Yang said, patting Weiss on the knee.

"Calm down. I haven't hit 40 yet, and I'm fitter than the average 20-year old in their prime. I can handle this, a lot has changed since he took the position from my grandfather all those years ago. I've already seen him get less cutthroat, he's a completely different boss to when I started. Attitudes towards the SDC have also changed massively on a global scale, I've- we've done a lot of work on our image and it worked."

Yang was too tired to be roused by Weiss' statement, but the intent was there. She could hear the stirring passion in her voice, and she would never stifle it. "That's true, no doubt thanks to your influence. So, Mrs CEO, what would you like to do first with all your new power?"

"Uhhh, put my feet up."

"Ha, tell me about it. My feet are killing me, I've been up and about all day long. Celebrating your promotion was hard work."

"I'm sorry you were so stressed today."

"I just wanted to make everything perfect for you, my feet will survive."

"Let me massage them for you."

Yang snorted. "Isn't that a bit beneath you, I mean, you're like one of the most powerful people in the entire world. Shouldn't I be giving you a foot rub? You know, to congratulate you." Yang grinned in jest. "I should be waiting on you, hand and foot."

"You've already done enough." Weiss could see Yang resist as she squat down and took off Yang's shoes. "I might be CEO, but I'm still your wife. Let me do this for you."

Yang sighed as her stiletto heels were removed. That felt better already. Yang stretched backwards, going limp, as Weiss took hold of her foot. Yang's eyes had involuntarily closed, she opened them to smile at Weiss. She was completely engrossed in her work.

"God, that feels good."

"Lay back, relax."

"How do you know how to-" Yang let out a moan to contentment, as Weiss' fingers pressed hard into the underside of her foot, stimulating the muscles and connective tissues, relieving her pain. "I think you're in the wrong career."

Weiss giggled, "think I should quit my job, start a new business?"

"Honestly, your talents are being wasted. On second thought, I don't want you making anyone else feel this good."

"So greedy."

"I remember when you used to do this for me when I was pregnant."

Weiss' eyebrows sprang up. "It wasn't that long ago, was it? Geez, that was so many years ago. It can't have been that long since the last time I did something like this."

"It's ok, I'm not feeling neglected. You had your hands full doing other things for me."

Weiss' mouth became a thin, straight line. She would have even less time to spend with Yang with her new position and the responsibilities that came with it. She was so swept up in her promotion that she had sidelined thoughts about the commitment needed for her new job. "You must tell me if you ever feel lonely, or want me to do something like this."

"You'll be so busy, though."

"I don't care. I'll find time for you. I'm the boss, I'll make time."

"You serious?"

"Yes. That's how important you are. You've called me Princess for so many years, but you're my Queen."

"Queen, eh. Where's my throne?"

A grin stretched across Weiss' face. "You know where."

Yang gasped as Weiss' fingers plowed deep lines on the plantar fascia. It was painful, but so good. "Right there, god, your hands are like magic."

"You're enjoying it, then?"

"Please don't ever stop."

"Have some wine, make it even better."

"I've had entirely too much already," Yang said, as she emptied her glass down her throat. "Don't worry, I haven't forgotten I have wifely duties to perform."

"You don't have to."

"But I want to. You deserve congratulations. Really, congratulations. I'm so proud of you. All my hard work today was worth it to see your smile."

Weiss wiped her eye on her shoulder, as her hands were already occupied. "Thank you. It means a lot coming from you. I mean, I worked for this. Really, really worked. I do deserve it, my father was right in saying that my abilities are perfect. He molded me for this job for a very long time, and he's been doing the job himself even longer, so he would know.

"But the only reason I could do any of this, is because of you. When I was a kid, I thought I would be terrible at business, that's why I took an interest in Huntressing. As long as there's Grimm, people will always need protection, so I would have a job for life. My father had such high expectations of me, I couldn't disappoint him in something he knew nothing about. There would be no shame in failure, because Grimm are terrifyingly deadly, indomitable foes. The best Huntsmen come back without success even when they do their best. If they come back at all. The SDC is a whole different monster, and I'll admit, at first, I was still afraid that I was going to fail.

"Except I knew, that there was no way that you would let me fail. You had faith in me, believed in me, loved me for all that I am. I'd never have made it this far without you beside me, giving me a reason to excel. I have to do my best, because I've got you relying on me. You gave me Yen and Reza, and they look up to me, so I have to succeed to make them proud of me too. It's a lot of pressure, but it's what I need. So I owe you a hearty congratulations as well. You deserve it as much as I do. I want to celebrate you, and everything you've ever done for me. That's why I'm doing this, as a thank you."

Weiss gave Yang a moment to absorb everything she had said. She herself took a minute to realise what she had just confessed, how deep she had searched into her soul to find those words, how long her life had been before she had given airtime to her most inner motivations.

"...Yang?"

Weiss' head snapped up, intent on giving Yang a sharp word for not listening but her eyes softened; Yang was dead asleep. Her head was completely lolled backwards, mouth open catching flies, lulled into unconsciousness by Weiss and her magic fingers.

She thought about leaving her there, she looked so comfortable, but Weiss wouldn't dare let her sleep on the couch. Not tonight, after she had worked such long hours for Weiss to appear immaculate and her party to be perfect. Yang deserved a good night's sleep on a soft bed. Weiss raised an eyebrow while she mulled over the logistics.

Yang was a hardy woman; as well as the extra six inches in height, she had at least twenty pounds on Weiss, mainly of muscle. After years of training with Yang, Weiss had formidable strength herself, gone were the days when it looked like she could be blown over by a small breeze. It had been a long, hard road, but she had forged that X-frame body from practically nothing, basically a wimpy piece of string.

Genetics had predetermined that she would have eight pack abs when she was lean enough, rather than the blocky six pack like Yang. Her calves and forearms were sturdy and thick compared to her relatively thin upper arms and thighs, so she didn't look particularly muscular until she flexed. Her hips were small but her glutes were magical and enviable, defying both aging and gravity. She had to fight tooth and nail to get any semblance of shoulders, her bone structure resisted putting heavy, unnecessary meat where it was a pain to carry. But she had been like this consistently for years now, it was her natural state of being and all started because she wanted to emulate Yang.

Weiss wedged her arms underneath Yang's body confidently. All that lifting, eating, and recovering in the pursuit of gains, was about to be put to the test. This was it, this was what she had been training for her entire life - to be able to carry the weight of her wife, the weight of the world in her arms. Her feet were staggered, not the best position to start, but too late to correct it now. She straightened her back, and lowered her hips, ready to lift.

Weiss laughed. There was nothing to it.


End file.
